Weft stop motion for narrow ware looms



June 20, 1950 O s. Hu c s 2,512,428

WEFT STOP MOTION FOR NARROW WARE LOOMS Filed Feb. 2, 1949 INVENTOR ALLANS. HUTOHINS.

ATTORNEY.

Patented June 20, 195

WEFT STOP MOTION FOR NARROW WARE LOOMS Allan S. Hutchins, Oakham, Mass,assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, acorporation of Massachusetts Application February 2, 1949, Serial No.74,069

12 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in weft stop motions for narrowware looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide sucha motion which will be effective to stop the loom either upon weftbreakage or weft slackness preceding substantial depletion of weft.

Narrow ware looms ordinarily operate with a large number of relativelysmall shuttles which are reciprocated on the lay by rack and pinionmechanism. The lay has a series of spaced shuttle clocks between whichthe warp sheds are located. The weft of each shuttle is usually wound ona small spool or quill which is rotatably mounted on the shuttle, and inthe course of loom operation the thread from a quill may become eitherbroken or sufficiently depleted to require replenishment. Narrow warelooms are ordinarily not equipped with any form of weft stop motion andconsiderable attention on the part of the weaver is required to watchthe weft and stop the loom before any of the shuttles become depleted.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a weftstop motion including a weighted arm or the like normally sustained bythe weft but moving by gravity to an indicating or stopping positionwhen the weft either breaks or becomes unduly slack. The weighted arm ordetecting member when in stopping position is moved by the shuttle toclose an electric switch, preferably located on the lay, therebyinitiating loom stoppage. I

The shuttle blocks of narrow ware lays are generally arranged in suchmanner that each block receives first one shuttle and then anothershuttle. It is a further object of the invention to provide a weftstopping means so located with respect to a shuttle block as to beeffective to stop the loom if breakage occurs in either of the twoshuttles which may be received by the shuttle block.

Narrow ware shuttles ordinarily have spring tension means including eyesthrough which the weft is threaded when passing from the quill to thedelivery eye on the bow of the shuttle. These tensions are ordinarilyextended to produce the proper degree of tautness of the thread and thelatter is therefore able to support the aforesaid weighted detector arm.Heretofore it has been customary to wind the entire length of weft on Ithe quills in one direction so that as the weft unwinds it is kept tautby the tension means throughout the whole time that the shuttle isweaving.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the quill withweft part of which has a reverse wind so that when this part of the weftis reached during the depletion of weft on the quill the thread willsuddenly become slack although not broken and due to this slackness theweighted detector will be free to fall and effect loom stoppage. It isnot necessary that all of the quills have this reverse wind, since therate of consumption of the weft is likely to be the same for allshuttles, and it will sufiice if only one quill has the reverse wind.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds,'the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of theinvention is set forth,

Fig. l is a front elevation of part of the lay of the narrow ware loomhaving the invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View of one of the shuttles and its shuttleblock looking in the direction of arrow '2, Fig. 1, and showing thedetector arm in normal or raised position,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3, Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a view similar to a part of Fig. 2 but showing the detectorarm in stopping position,

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a stopping electric circuit which canbe used with the invention,

Figs. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic views showing the reverse wind on thequill,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the weighted detector members which whenin fallen position effects loom stoppage, and

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view taken in a direction across the quillshowing the detector member and related parts.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, the loom lay L has a beam Ill in whicha rack II is mounted for horizontal reciprocation by any of thewellknown narrow ware shuttle motions not illustrated herein. This rackmeshes with a series of pinions which in turn mesh with the shuttles. Asshown in Fig. 1 four spaced shuttle blocks l2, 53, hi and I5 are mountedon the lay and each shuttle block has rotatable therein one of thesheaves IB meshing with the rack l I. Each block has shuttle guidingslots or grooves I1 and I8 and the blocks are so arranged that thecurved slot i! of one block will be concentric with the curved slot I8of an adjacent block. The shuttles have the usual racks not shown ontheir under sides to mesh with the sheaves so that as the rack H isreciprocated the shuttles move from one block to another across warpspaces H] in which are located beat-up reeds 20. In Fig. 1 shuttles SI,S2, S3 and 54 are shown in the blocks 12 to l5, respectively, inreadiness for movement to the left.

It will be apparent from 1 that during the runnin of the loom each blocksupports two shuttles alternately. Thus, block it is shown in Fig. l assupporting shuttle S3 for one beat-up of the lay, but on the next pickshuttle S3 will have moved to block 15 and shuttle .552 will have movedfrom block Hi to block ill. Block [4 therefore supports the shuttles S2and S3, first one and then the other,- during successive beat-up motionsof the lay, andthis is true of all except the end shuttle blocks.

Each shuttle as shown more particularly in Fig. 2 has a quillcompartment 25 across which extends a pin 25 on which is rotatablymounted a quill or spool 21. The weft W is wound on 'thexquilland .atension .pad'ZS is pressed against wthecback of the weft on the quill.-.to.resist rota- .tionof the.quill..on.the.r.od 25-and help tension.the weft. Theshuttle hasmovable tension eyes :30, 3| .and.32.and-aweftdelivery eye.33.

weftextends fromthe top of the quill to and .through the tension eyes.31], .31 and .32 in the order named .andthen outthedelivery eye 33. .It:is not thought necessary .to show the pull back springs associated withthe eyes .3il32,

since they are well understood and it is thought sufficient to statethat during loom operation these eyes will be extended as shown in Fig.2 and keep the weft taut.

The matter thusfar describedis of common construction innarrow ware'looms and of itself forms no part of the present invention.

In carrying the invention into effect -.rneans are provided byrwhich-theloom can be stopped it the-weft'W either breaks or becomes slack to adegree which cannot be compensated for by retraction of the tension-eyes3B'32. This stopping means is preferablyapplied-to-each of the shuttles,but certain featuresof my invention do not require that each shuttle-be-thus equi ppedi Fig. 4, is below-detector 3-B,--while link 4-3 atthe left is above it, and 'these links limit angular motion of thedetector-relatively to the shuttle. Each eye 3'! and'33 is locatedbetween its corresponding coils ll and'endwise motion of detector member36 onmodfiisthus limited.

Secured to'thelaybeam-is 'an electric switch 45 having an upright arm"'46 extending from a switch box dlheld infixed position on the lay. Arm46 is normally in backor non-stopping position, ortoward thequillilythus enabling switch 25 to be normally open. If desired aresilient holding or'detent wire"5il maybe secured to the box fl,*as'"at"5l,'a.nd extends rearwardly -and-has an inclined end-'orfingertlnormally forward of arm 4.6.

Under-normal'conditions the weft-will pass -under the 'forward'part 55of-the detector mem- The ber 38 in front of rod 35. So long as the weftis taut, as indicated in Fig. 2, it holds the detector 36 in raisednon-stopping position with the weft engaging detector part 55 above theswitch arm 18 and the switch therefore remains in its open position.

When the weft breaks, asiindicated in Fig. 4, the detector wire 35 byits weight falls to a position under the rod 35 against stop link t2,and

.as the shuttle moves one or the other of two bent .or cam sections 56on detector 36 will pass be- "hind and engage the upright arm 45 andmove it forwardly to stopping position, thereby closing switch 15. .Thestop or limiting link it, by its engagement with detector 35 near itseye 3?, prevents the detector 36 from moving rearwardly beyond itsnormal or operating position when engaging the upright arm :38. As theswitch arm it moves forwardly the detent 5i? snaps behind it and holdsit. in its forward or closed position.

When switch '.is,,closed ;.the electric circuit shown .in Fig; 5 :isclosed, this pcircuit including wsecondaryliil aof .a.transformer T, theswitch t5, -wire .59, a solenoid 60, ,a. stationary contact 5 l plate 62on. a.-s'hip.per lever=fi3.and wire 64 to the ground. :Sincethe.other;side .of the secondary -58 is also .groundedathis circuit:will be energized,

zwhereuponithe solenoidliftsa link .65 into the -pathof .a regularlyoscillating .lever .66, whereuponthe-zlatter .movesathe :link to'theright as .viewed,:in,Fi g...5; androcksthe shipper lever 63 .tothe right:to ieffectnloomstoppage and at the ..sa.me time breahcontactibetween:plate 62 and --contact 18!. For. detailsof the stopping mechanismreference imaybe .had .to :prior Patent No. 1,873,465.

.noid:li(l npona-bri'eiclosure of switch 45 such as might occurduringvtheshort time that a shuttle is relatively stationary in one of theshuttle boxes. Before-restarting the loom the weaverwill release arm 46from the detent.

One feature ;of the invention is set forth in .Fig. i1, where it :Willbe seen that a stopping .switchis .provided foreveryother shuttle box.

The switch thus far described and-indicated at '45, is-associated withshuttle block, but there will be another similar switch 18 in front ofshuttle-block t2, and similarlythere may be a switch for-everysecondshuttle block. From an block I l and its detector will also beable to .close switch $55- if itswef-tis broken or slackened."The-switch "#5 is centrally "located-with respect toblock 14 along the"length of the "lay, and this relationship is 'true' of the "otherswitch and the shuttles, 'beingsimilar andtheir guide slots I? andl'8'being alike "for eachblock; each-shuttle when moving to a-shuttleblock associated with aswitch 'boxwill beable to effect loom stoppage ifits "detector 36 is in down position.

Another feature er the 'invention relates to stopping 1 by effecting aslack-ness of the thread "when a predetermined condition of weftdepletion has been reached. Figs. 6 and '7 showdia- "grammatically theway in which 'the weft is after loom stoppage. ;'is located centrally ofevery second shuttle .u-hd on the quill when this feature of the in-Y;Vent ionis used. The barrel 'Hof the quillhas. a, few residual wraps 12of weft wound thereon.' These wraps need not be many in number but willrepresent a sufficient length of threadto, prevent complete exhaustionof the quillbfoife'. theloom can be stopped by the stopping mecha-Inisms. This inner body of weft is wound on; the" have been shown withcurved guidej'slots but;

the invention is not limited to such slots. When" they are usedcentrifugal force aids gravity to" barrel in a right hand direction,starting" at a2 point 13, see Fig. 6, and ceiling around the'barrell llfor several turns in a clockwise direction The weft is then reversed asat 14 and wrapped around the barrel in the opposite orcountericlockwisedirection forseveral turns to produce a second bodyor layer 15 of weftwhich ends at apoint l6. Fromthe latterpoint the weft :is again wound ina clockwise direction untilthe quill is full of weft to provide anouterlayer H.

The quill thus formed will have a small'inner winding of weft of onehand and a much larger, outer winding of the same hand, and there willbe an intermediate winding ofthe reverse hand;

If the reverse winding is made lon enough it :may be possible todispense with the inner layer, '12.

When a full quill wound as indicated in Fig. 6 is moved back and forththrough the warp ished it will turn in a clockwise direction as viewedin Fig. 6 and the tension eyes 32 "will keep the thread suflicientlytautto hold the detector 36 in the elevated position showndiagrammatically in Fig. 6. As Weaving continues rand the outer layer 11of regular wound weft used up the reverse winding is reached, wherezuponconditions become as indicated in Fig.7 :and the yarn forming thereverse winds will lloosen and produce more slackness than the tensioneyes 3B32 can take up. The detector wire 35 will thereupon drop to itsstopping or r'indic atlng position shown in full lines in Fig. '7. lLuomstoppage will then result as already de- .:scribed, but the weft of thequill will be intact :so that no mispick will occur in the cloth. 'Ifdesired, the winding arrangement shown in Figs move the detector 36to'stoppingposition.

Having thus described the invention it will be seen that changes andmodifications of the fore going specific disclosure maybe made without"departing from the spirit and scope of the" invention. I

What is claimed as new is: 1. Ina ,weft detecting system for a narrowware loom having a'lay provided "withshuttle' blocks, a normally openelectric switch'on lay in front of one of said" blocks, ashuttle' movingto said one block from'another lfloclb during loom operation, a,detector. on the shuttle? normallyfheld in non-stopping position awayfrom the switch by the weft in the shuttle whenthe weft is taut butmoving to stopping-position when the .weft breaks or is unduly slack,the detector when in stopping positionand due to motion of the shuttlefrom said other block to 6 and '7 can be used for all the shuttles, butthis IWlll not be necessary if all the quills have at Iileast as muchweft as is represented by layers .11 and 15 at the start of weaving. Inthat event :a single quill will suffice and when its reverse "winding isreached there will still be enough weft on the other quills to lastuntil the loom :is stopped. The weaver can then renew the weft in allthe shuttles.

"to close the switch. The resilient wire detent can if desired be usedto hold the upright 1 .arm 46 in closed position, and will of course bereleased by the weaver before weaving is resumed Also, the detectorswitch block in such position that it can cooperate with either of twoshuttles which are alternately supported by the block. Furthermore, thereverse 4 wind of the quill automatically produces an excess slacknessof weft when a predetermined degree of weft consumption is reached,thereupon permitting the detector wire 36 to fall to stopping positioneven though the thread remains .intact. Only one quill with a reversewind is "needed, provided all of the other quills have a said one'blockeffecting closure-"of said switch,"- and means effectingloom stoppingincidentlto closure of said switch. 13; 2. In a weft detecting system for'= a narrowware loom having a, lay provided -withf'shuttle blocks, a,normally open electric'switch on the layin frontof one of said blocks,a" shuttle move ing to said one block from another block during. loomoperation; ,a detector on-th'e' shuttle-hora mally held in non-stoppingposition away f-rom the switch against the action of gravity'lby theweft when the latteris taut but moving by gravity to stoppingpositionwhen the-weft breaks or is unduly slack, the detector when in stoppingposition and moved-why the shuttle fromother block to said one blockeffecting ciosu or said switch, and means effecting loom" stoppingincident to closure of saidswitc h.

In a weft detecting system, for a narrow ware loom having a lay and'shuttleblocks' spaced tnerealong, a shuttle moving in the generaldirection of the length of the lay fromone of said shuttle blocks toanother of said shuttl'e "blocks, awef't detector in theshuttle'norinallyin non stopping position when the weft of the shuttletaut but moving to stopping position when the weft is broken orundulyslack, a normallyo'pen eiectric's'witch on the 'lay closed by thedetector when the latter is' in stopping position and moved by theshuttle lengthwise of the lay tc engage the switch, and means to stopthe loom incident to closure of said switch. i

4. In an electric weft detecting system for: narrow ware loom having alay provided with 'a shuttle moving in the direction of the length 1-01the lay, a 'normally'open electric 'switchon the lay, a weft detector inthe shuttle normally held in non-stopping position when the weft of theshuttle is taut but moving to stopping position whenthe Weft is brokenor slack, said detector when in stopping position and due to movement ofthe shuttle along the length of the lay effecting closure of saidswitch, and means. stopping the loom incident to closure of said switch.

5. In an electric weft detecting system for a narrow ware loom having alay provided with a shuttle moving in a curved path, a normally openelectric switch on the lay on the convex side of said path, a weftdetector in the shuttle normally held in non-stopping position when theweft is taut and aided to move to stopping position by centrifugal forceas the shuttle moves along said and hayiq ai qthe inz er art thex eofwound oiithe, {quill t ereva direction, detector" 6n" stb g positioni'wllefi theweftis slack; theweft bihgjnbgiie i 'ta'ugf to support thedetector 'in no" topping' posi on, the weft when sta'rting"to" s'a'idiii'ner part' thereof becoming ofjsuppo'rting the detector," whereubohthe detector moves to stopping"po-" I e; "fmeans" 'deperidex'it then thedetector position to efiet loqm St'opf-f o iter windinfg a. weft;detetoi' iii the "shuttle held iii nonintli'geting position so long alswitiitaut and. is 'being linwo iho. from: said oflter' wifidir'ig butmoyihg tolindieating position diieto latk ness of the weft when thelatter "during the windi l lg thereo; re aehes said winding of oppositeand; nd' s ans f tfi j m t e n' r dent toihgjyemehtpI the detectoi toindi eatin position.

11. In a weit deteeting system for a narrow wai e loom operating withash1 1tt1e, a) weft quill rotatable on the shuttle hevizig'f ah outer'layer of w eft wound or; the quill in one direction cav ei i hg an irla ye of weft wound on the quill in' the oppos t glirectiomaweitjdetector normally held inj nonfstopping position by weft whichisoimel yf afit h n llwi, 8, mm l ater h e t w len, nwi o I' a 5 nor layerbecoming slack; Whreiiiaon the dtotor moves to stoppipg position; anclj'n'ieans effectihg lopm stoppa'ge when tlleldleteotor isin Stopping wl l 12. In,a. weft, detecting system for, a narrow were loomoperetingl'with'a shuttle movingelo ng aj lay, a weft quilfroteltable onthe shuttle haw- N9 retf ree e r itqd-

